Where the Heart Leads
by ninasdreams
Summary: There are days when she feels like something huge is missing from her life. He's coming to find her, and he won't rest until he helps her regain what she doesn't know she's lost. They'll both find something greater along the way. (Spoilers for 3x11, set before/during the time jump)


_This is my Captain Swan Secret Santa gift for the lovely __**onceupon-a-fangirl **__on Tumblr. The end is written and ready to go, just polishing up some of the in between bits. Should be up in full by this weekend. Enjoy!_

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Something's missing. It's nothing she can put her finger on, nothing she can put a name to. It just feels like…like she's forgotten something incredibly important—like she's lost someone.

"Mom?"

Emma smiles at her son across the table. "Yeah, kid?"

"Are you okay?" he asks. "You kinda went somewhere else for a minute there."

"I'm good," she lies. "Eat your dinner."

She pushes the unnameable emptiness aside and enjoys a home cooked meal with her son.

**-x-x-x-x-**

"So you're saying we're the target of _another_ curse, and the only one who can save us is Emma?" Neal asks in disbelief. Killian meets his eyes, sharing a perturbed look. He isn't remotely pleased by this new development, especially Emma's involvement.

Killian has spent a year wishing he could see her again, but for once he'd like to meet her under less…dire circumstances.

"The Wicked Witch is not one to underestimate," Glinda the Good (Killian couldn't hide his snort of amusement when she'd introduced herself) warns them. "There's something in the land without magic, in Storybrooke, that she desperately wants and she will not hesitate to use all of you to get it."

"And this is why I fucking hate magic," Neal groans. Killian is inclined to agree with him.

"Why Emma?" David asks. "Why does it have to involve our daughter?"

Glinda gives him a sad smile that has Killian bristling immediately. "She is extremely powerful in her own right," she says. "She has so much untapped potential, and the Wicked Witch can't defend against what she doesn't know."

"When we sent her through that wardrobe, it was to give her the best chance possible," Snow says. "It _wasn't_ to trap her in a lifetime of loneliness and saving others."

Glinda has no answer to that.

"So," Tink pipes up, breaking the tense silence. "Who's going to find Emma?"

"I can only send one of you," Glinda warns. "Using magic to connect realms is extremely draining."

"What about Neal?" Snow asks.

Killian opens his mouth to object, but it's Neal who surprisingly protests.

"It can't be me," he says. "As much as I wish things were different, the fact is the last memory Emma has of me is being set up and sent to prison pregnant. I doubt she'll have anything to do with me if I go."

"Neal's right," David says. "If what Glinda says is true then we don't have the time. You know how stubborn Emma can be."

Snow smiles wistfully, then frowns. "Then—"

"Hook should go."

Killian's gaze snaps to David. "Pardon?"

"You heard me," David says. Killian tries to tamp down the excitement growing within. "In the brief time any of us have known Emma, no one has gotten through to her as much as you. Believe it or not she trusted you, Hook. If anyone can convince her, it's you."

Tink and Snow are nodding, and Neal looks resigned but remains silent.

"And how exactly am I meant to find her?" Killian asks. "I'm not exactly familiar with that land."

"Do you love her?" Tink asks, and the question throws him for a loop.

Everyone is staring at him, waiting for him to voice something that he has only ever acknowledged to himself. That precious ember that has kept his hope alive over the last year without her.

"With all that I am," he answers.

Snow gasps as her husband smiles, Neal looking away while Tink gives Killian a blazing grin.

"Then this is all you need," Tink says, and Killian recognizes the tiny vial of pixie dust Wendy gave her when they left Neverland.

"But will this work in that land?" he asks.

"You can strengthen it's power if you use it on something that belonged to her," Glinda advises. Killian had almost forgotten she was there.

Neal steps forward, pulling a chain from around his neck. "Here," he says. "Use this."

Killian recognizes the swan necklace Emma had worn when he first met her. The one her hand would drift to when she was wary or uncertain around someone. He looks at Neal in surprise and receives a shrug.

"It's always been her choice," he says. "I'll always have our past and Henry. Hopefully one day I'll have her forgiveness too."

Killian nods his head in deference to what must be a difficult admission and reverently takes the necklace. He turns to Tinkerbell who unstoppers the vial and pours the pixie dust over the necklace. The metal glows a soothing green for a moment, then returns to normal.

"That should lead you right to her," the fairy says confidently.

Killian nods.

"Are you ready?" Glinda says. He nods again. She turns to an open spot in the clearing and waves her wand, chanting something that sounds like utter nonsense to Killian. Whatever it is works though because they're all momentarily blinded by a flash of light.

When Killian blinks most of the spots from his vision, he's met with the sight of an iridescent portal swirling a foot off the grass. He has to look away as the colors shift nauseatingly, slipping from white to pink to green to a spectrum of shades he can't name.

He turns his attention to Neal instead. "Can I count on you to mind the Jolly Roger?"

Neal's eyes widen in surprise but he smiles for the first time since Glinda came to warn them. "I did learn from the best."

Killian grins. "That you did."

"Take this," Glinda says, holding out an indigo vial. "From what I've been told, family is everything to Emma. Drinking this will reveal her heart's desire, help her remember the family she's forgotten."

"And what about her lad, Henry?" Killian asks, pocketing the vial.

"His is the heart of the Truest Believer. I have faith you'll be able to find some way to convince him of the truth." She smiles at his skeptical look. "Belief is a powerful thing."

"You need to go," Tink urges. "This portal isn't likely to stay open much longer."

Killian nods, finding that it's genuinely hard to leave her and Neal and the Charmings. He's come to respect and admire Emma's parents quite a bit in the last year. They have stuck with him, taken him in and treated him as their equal, and Killian hasn't had a friend like David since he lost Liam. The royal couple are staring at him, Snow's face full of teary longing to see her daughter again. David is a solid pillar of strength beside her, eyes shining with just as much emotion as his wife.

Snow dips her head in encouragement, a watery smile on her face. "You can do this, Hook," she says, no hesitation in her voice. "We believe in you."

Her words knock the breath from him. It's been so long since anyone has believed in him. It's a glimpse of what he could have if this venture succeeds, if he brings Emma back and she saves them all…if she loves him in return. He could be a part of this astonishing group of people who would move mountains and cross worlds to find each other. _Gods_ does he wants that.

"Killian, milady," he says gruffly. The name is odd on his lips after so long. "My name is Killian Jones."

Snow nods and David steps forward, gripping Killian's shoulder and meeting his eyes with a determined gleam. "We're counting on you, Killian. Bring back our daughter."

Killian summons up one of his roguish grins. "It will be my pleasure, mate."

The prince pulls him in for a swift hug and whispers, "Never hurts to try True Love's kiss, either."

Killian gapes. David laughs and steps back with his wife, pulling her into his arms.

Killian gives them all one final look and turns toward the wavering light of the portal.

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**_Soundtrack for this fic can be found on 8tracks here: 8tracks(.com)/lostdreamer15/where-the-heart-leads (just get rid of the () around com)._**


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